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Greatdane

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Greatdane last won the day on November 16 2013

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About Greatdane

  • Birthday 06/06/1987

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  • State
    Minnesota
  • Vending Type
    Full Line

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  1. Hi Greatdane,  You seem to know a lot about the Saeco 200.  I've had these machines for 13 years, and have had trouble with the thermal fuses on top of the boilers going out on me, with error #14.  The water doesn't get hot in the boiler.  I'm trying to get new thermal fuses, but Seaga does not carry them.  Do you know if there is something on Amazon that would work?  Thanks so much!

    1. DeltaBuilders

      DeltaBuilders

      Hi Debbie,  As long as the thermal matches the input/output values of the original thermal, any thermal fuse will work.  We replaced out transformer, an OEM Original replacement was being sold for $135, but we bought a $30 one that works perfectly and, for that matter, is high-quality.

  2. Hello, I am trying to install a Bill validator, the bill validator I bought was a  ICT L 704US600A#3, I was wondering how to connect it to CN) Bill vlidator

  3. I see that you are the resident Saeco Dr.  We have a Saeco 600 with an error code "6" nozzle arm movement not detected.  Check the nozzle arm ( mechanism free movement and positioning microswitch)  What does this mean?? 

     

    Thank you for any help. 

  4. I hope to god this is the coffee forum Ive been desperately trying to post for ever....

     

    Hello there. My wife and I have a small business here in Austin called From Bean to Cup. We have some old school Barista Supremo's in a number of hospitals and other places and am trying desperately to find someone who can either help me rebuild a few grinders that are going out or find some replacements. Parts for these old things are getting harder to find. ANY HELP WHATSOEVER PLEASE!!!

     

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  5. Great Dane, are you still out there?  Hopefully you can give me some advice.

    I had to repair an elbow on the backside of the boiler.  Reinstalled using photos taken prior to removing the boiler. 

    I now have the issue of steam coming through the brew group at the end of the cycle.  I consistently get 3/4 of a cup, but as I said, the last ounce or so comes out as steam.

    The boiler did sit for several months before I re-installed it.  I am not in a cold climate.

    I'm now thinking the two way solenoid valve between the boiler and the brew group is not working properly.

    Any thoughts?

    Thanks.

    R

  6. I am an operator in Minneapolis and new to this site.  I am interested to see how your business is going now?   We are doing pretty well but a challenge to find good consistent businesses to place the machines.

  7. The switching to potable domestic water is fairly easy. You have four wires that go down into the base of Saeco SG200. One set is for dregs waste water float and other set goes to pump. You remove the two pump wires and bring back up to top section. You land these two wires onto the two tabs on inlet water solenoid. Upon call for beverage water solenoid is energized instead of pump. When connecting to domestic water, be advised if machine malfunctions, instead of 5 gallons on the floor, you have unlimited potential for water damage. I installed a water leak sensor in base of unit and wired in series with solenoid and a pressure reducing valve that is provided by a water filter (the type you use for household ice maker) as domestic city water is mineral laden and makes boiler foul easier rather than spring bottled water. Hope this helps.
  8. I have not expanded the coffee biz due to my hectic HVAC job so I still have seven machines placed. I made deals with the locations facilities. I found people in the office staff that are capable and I did a schooling on how to maintain and refill machines with extra product I leave in machine. Only takes 10 minutes. They just add 5 gallons of water when low from water vendor that opens the machine and puts fresh water in at no charge and the the location pays for the water. What a great deal for me. I now show up to do a thorough maintenance once a month and collect the money. I give the person that looks after the Saeco SG 200's about 15% plus free coffee. The Saeco SG200's have internal tracking so I can tell what has been sold and what was gratis. Getting a return of about 60% over cost of product. All machines are fully paid for so whatever dollars are made is a bonus.. Peace: Greatdane
  9. I use general business liability insurance. It covers my coffee biz for vending and it also covers my HVAC business so it is like a umbrella policy. It covers liability, loss of product, machine, damages like flooding if hooking up directly to water supply. Most importantly is coverage of one million USD a year, $500,000 per occurrence. Cost is $$89 a month. You never know when a machine malfunctions and makes 111 degree coffee-a really steamy latte and you get a mickeedees lawsuit. Of course the difference is you did not intend to keep the coffee at 190 degree + upon serving on purpose. Worst case for me is someone swipes a machine or the water valve malfunctions and dumps 5 gallons of water on the floor of which the Saeco SG200 has a dredge tank of about 2.5 gallons. You just never know in this litigious world.
  10. So glad my experience based on self opinion informed you to make a educated buying decision! You can now send me %10 percent of what you would have paid after taking out a second mortgage paying $30k start up. There was what seemed to me a internet black out when I did my research except mapinfo and one BBB negative. It is kind of funny you mention Java Brewing because the info packets I received from the previous "Authorized" semi-franchise Canmax operators included Java Brewing materials tucked in with Canmax's start up material. I myself have made my money back because I paid about 10% or less of what Canmax wanted new. Canmax's 5 machine base start up option was around $31,000. It would be a very very long time to recover 31K or 60,000 cups of coffee before you see a profit. The Saeco SG 200's I have placed are now making me spending money but not exactly a "Living Income". This is mainly by choice and also I am in a very rural area and not a big metro area so others may experience' will differ. I service them once or twice every two weeks. After the first placement newness factor is over, sales seem to be about a third of when first placing the machine. But since I owe nothing, it is like making about $50 a week average per machine. It takes me about 1 hour average servicing each machine. So in a month I make about $500 and that includes the 10 hours I service. I have doubled my original investment after costs are factored in. I have had less than 3 failures I had to deal with outside of my regular service. The Saeco SG 200's are EXTREMELY reliable in my opinion working with them in a real operating environment. I could place them in more profitable areas but I'm in the comfort zone. I have a HVAC full time job so this works for me. I listed and sold one machine on Ebay and it sold right away. One of our forum readers saw my add and wondered what was going on and I explained that I wasn't using it and was taking my spare room storage space. The person I sold it too said it is doing well and if things continue he will get his money back after 6 months. I provide free help when needed for success as a bonus to the buyer. If you have the time, buy ONE Saeco SG 200 on ebay for no more than bargain Ebay normal price of $1000 for a new machine $800+ for used with supplies (not $3,500) and place in a well traveled area. My favorite is at the ice rink. Year round cold. It's Minnesota northland so it's cold here all year Kids love the hot chocolate. I love the French Vanilla but the calories add up. Let me know how things go or if you need my address to send the 10% $$$ (kidding) Peace, Greatdane
  11. There is a dreg waste water container with a float switch. This is activated when the waste water level gets to high. You may want to check this switch. There are 4 wires that go down to base other than change/cash molex. One set goes to pump and second set goes to float switch. The float switch is telling the cpu that you may have float switch sticking open and no continuity or wires not connected. Let me know what you find. Peace, Greatdane
  12. Your Saeco SG200 screens are clean in brew group so no issue there, If you are using good water and boiler is clean/lime/iron free, water is not the issue. It sounds like you may have a very fine grind. If it is too fine, it takes about 3 minutes for the coffee to dribble through the coffee puck into the cup. (I had this issue with my kitchen Saeco SG200) It appears you need to adjust the coffee grind. Remember where the setting is and adjust to a courser grind. This is above the brew group upper left. You will see a big gear and a set screw that appears to take a flathead screw driver but can be hand turned. You can always experiment turning the grind adjustment. Go one way and 5 minutes to brew, go to far other way, weak coffee and fast brew. You will find the balance that works for you. Peace and good luck! Greatdane
  13. You can use a piece of round stock about the size of the stirrer sticks. One of my machines was missing one and I had some square stock and I just cut it to size. You can go to hardware store and there are long bolts you could use or even round stock they can cut if needed. Just cut off the bolt end. The weight is just to keep a little bit of pressure on the stix for vending and from warping in the machines in the somewhat humid environment. Also a point of interest is to keep your sticks wrapped in plastic and kept in a clean dry place. They will warp and your kids will have 10,000 art projects stix. If you do have a very large case, wrap shipping tape around the box. There are a lot of these machines in the Florida, Arizona, california areas so humidity is sometimes a issue. Canmax appears to like to have biz ops in the sunshine states. Better than winter in Northern Minnesota where I live. Also, machines are less susceptible to freezing in warmer climates. Sometimes some of the operators experience tight fits during dispensing. This is easily fixed by using a small flat file and filing where it catches, usually in the ends. The stirrer dispenser is designed to take 2 sizes of stir stix. Normal popsicle sticks work the best. Avoid the very thin stir stx half the width of regular stix you may find these as coffee shops and are cheaper than popsicle stix. Peace, Greatdane
  14. People have been contacting Seaga and believe it or not, The main manufacturer in Italy. Would be nice to speak Italian. If someone does get ahold of Saeco in Italy, ask them who is providing parts and service for their USA model Saeco SG200 110 Volt Model. Overseas is 220 Volts. So be careful matching parts. I have seen a person on ebay that is selling parts. Not sure if used but I have seen containers and the likes for sale. If you are interested use Ebays search features where you get notified by email if any of your keywords like Saeco SG200 Parts or machines I notice about weekly people are listing on Ebay. Used machines not working have been appearing pretty frequently. Mainly it appears people get a few and park in their garage in cold climates where the previous owner did not drain the boiler and suddenly you need to replace 5 boilers (ouch). They take the loss and sell all cheaply to get garage space back. Peace, Greatdane
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